Consignment shopping in Pittsburgh

Your shopping Jones is calling and you only have $20. What is a fashionista to do?

Go shopping at some of Pittsburgh’s best consignment stores. This is the time of the year to do consignment shopping. Your day has to be planned carefully.

PURSES—The Clothes Horse had wonderful $4 purses.

Rise early and have a powerful breakfast, maybe a Dr. Oz smoothie. Dress comfortably but chic. Wear shoes that are made for shopping and carry a pair of your favorite stilettos in your bag. You’ll need them when you try on those fierce dresses and pencil skirts. Make a list of what stores you want to visit and make sure you know their hours. Believe it or not, many consignment stores close earlier than your favorite haunts at the mall.

Consignment stores are growing and there are several new stores to report. On our most recent tour, we started at the Oakmont Ambiance. This is one of three Ambiance stores. Number one is on Braddock Avenue in Regent Square, and there is a third one on Butler Street in Lawrenceville. Ambiance is owned by Bethlehem Haven. Bethlehem Haven’s mission is to provide a continuum of care for homeless women that leads toward self-sufficiency. On this day, Ambiance was having a 75 percent off sale. We found a great pair of Michael Kors suede pants and kiwi green silk pants from Talbot’s. The Talbot’s pants were $7.

The next stop was Finders Keepers in Mt. Lebanon. Finders Keepers has been around for more than a decade and features furniture, home decor, antiques and gift items. The store was full of unique things for the home and there was something exciting in each corner. Just around the corner on Greentree Road is The Savvy Fox. They sell clothing for adults, teens and tweens and home décor. Their shoe department was great and there was a lot to see. Less than two miles away on Beverly Road is The Clothes Horse. They were having a half off sale. We found a BCBG dress for $5 and a fabulous pair of Ellen Tracy silk pants for $7.50. There were great purses for $4 and great dresses and suits at unbelievable prices. It was time for a mad dash from Mt. Lebanon to Shadyside.

We were now in the midst of rush hour traffic and were too late to shop at Designer Days Consignment Shop on Ellsworth Avenue. We should have had our lunch in the car instead of sitting down. So we whipped around the corner to Consignments on Centre where they were having their famous bag sale, eight items for $10. Outside of the bag sale, we found a St. John suit for $90 and designer purses to die for. A brand new Prada for $300, a reptile Chloe that was just being marked down to $700. Most of the stores accept credit cards, checks and cash. Ask for the stores consigning rules, you may want to sell some of the bulk in your closet and make a few dollars.

The cost of my items for the day was $19.50 the shopping experience was priceless.